Bear the Brunt
by CMemlovr
Summary: Based on LilacMermaid25's prompt on tumblr: Mac manages to restrain herself from hitting Will (barely), but not everyone on their staff can contain themselves when they see him being mean to her.


"Well at least I never went anywhere else to get some!" explodes Will, anger painting his cheeks crimson.

Mac is stunned into silence – unable to form a witty rejoinder or even a smart comeback she freezes, hoping that Will didn't mean what he'd said. But Will just stares her down, in too deep to back down now. Suddenly, it's all Mac can do to stop herself from punching Will in the face, forcefully reminding herself that '_he has a show tonight and you're EP'_. Unable to trust herself with the desire she has to beat Will up right now (and she could do it, too, because she's crafty) Mac storms away from Will, out of his office and into hers. Gazing outside across the Newsroom, she watches as the staff pretends to be busy, knowing that they probably heard at least the latter half of that unpleasant exchange. Fury ripples in the pit of her stomach, mixing with a kind of pain that had tormented her before she and Will were married. Obviously, he hadn't quite let it go, even after being married for half a year. Sighing, Mac resigns herself to her work, knowing that she and Will are going to be the talk of the Newsroom again – their first _public _marital spat is bound to draw attention (frankly, she's not sure how it hadn't happened sooner).

Outside, Don directs a barely concealed sneer in the direction of Will's office. It's not even that he's as loyal to Mac as Jim is – in fact, Don's unsure if _anyone _is as loyal to Mac as Jim is – but even he is able to see how far below the belt that last comment was. He watches angrily as Mac turns into her office, an expression of pain flitting across her features briefly before anger replaces it. Don feels as though he could hit Will just for _mentioning _that sordid detail of their shared past. Restraining himself from marching into Will's office to give him a piece of his mind (and fist) Don reminds himself that it's none of his business. Instead, he runs to Sloan, knowing that she, at the very least, will straighten Will out _verbally. _

"He said _that_? To Mac? What the fuck?!" Sloan is furious, her face contorted into the picture of rage. Shaking his head lightly, Don attempts to calm his girlfriend, anxious for her to regain her composure before he recounts Mac's reaction. Vibrating with fury, Sloan curls her fists, slowing her breathing to calm her rage. "What's the context?" she asks.

For a beat, Don is confused. Confused, that is, until he realises that she's applying Mac's three 'I's to this situation, attempting to channel it into something she understands better (human emotions aren't really her _thing_).

"Well," he hedges, "We had our first pitch meeting of the morning and Will and Mac had already started trading barbs. Nothing out of the ordinary there – mostly domestic stuff. I don't know, it was a bit edgier, though."

"And then?" Sloan urges, her face hard.

"And then the barbs became more personal – stuff that happened at home. Y'know…I'm not exactly comfortable relaying this."

"Firstly, man up Keefer. Secondly, you've told me how the fight started at the office – what set it off at home?"

"Sloan, why don't you ask Mac? You're best friends." Don reasons, half-pleading.

"Because she can't know that I know. I shouldn't, since I had to miss the pitch meeting for a class this morning," Sloan points out.

"And why…? Y'know, I don't want to know. Just, let's not get Charlie involved, okay?"

Sloan's aware that Don is indirectly asking her not to take any _drastic _actions (the guy from arbitrage comes to mind), but when it comes to defending her best friend, no action is drastic. Nodding absently, Sloan waves Don out of her office, already dreaming of the speech she could make to force Will to apologise.

Still stewing in his office, Will realises that what he said was well out of line – his comment had no place in the argument, especially since he'd forgiven her. Not that you'd know it by the way that he'd acted. He sighs in frustration, knowing that he's going to have hell to pay when they get home and irritated because he knows he deserves it. He'd been a dick to Mac. Worse, he'd done so in front of the staff (the first time since they'd been married). She didn't deserve what he'd said any more than he'd deserved what happened that morning to start this whole debacle. Groaning, Will notes the apprehensive looks he's receiving from his staff through the glass door – though a couple look less apprehensive and more out-and-out furious. Like Maggie and Jim. Holy shit.

Mac ignores the ringing of Will's words in her ears and the pain they bring, focusing instead on the task at hand – creating a composite rundown for the first rundown meeting in an hour. Though ordinarily not her job, Mac puts all of her effort into it anyway, eager to do something that will get Will off her mind and doesn't involve interacting with others; just her iNews feed. Typing away furiously, Maci s startled by the sound of a knock on her door, Maggie's face looming behind the glass. Waving her in, Mac returns to her work. Straightforward as usual, Maggie begins.

"These walls aren't soundproof, y'know."

Sighing, Mac looks her way, admiring how much she's grown since Genoa and Uganda, yet still interminably frustrated right now. "Are you lodging a complaint about your superiors?"

"Oh no, I just – I want to let you know that I'm behind you on this one. Will was outta line and you don't deserve that." Dropping her eyes, Maggie shuffles her feet slightly, "We all watched you and Will duke it out for three years – we know that this probably won't do anything to the relationship you've built, but we also want you to know that we're with you this time."

Shuffling the papers on her desk to give her hands something to do, Mac is touched by Maggie's words and looks up to smile at her briefly. "Thank you, Maggie," she says quietly.

Maggie takes her leave, knowing that Mac needs to be alone. She didn't ask what had happened that morning to start the fight – she expected that she'd be able to wrangle it out of Will with ease. Walking out of Mac's office, Maggie turns immediately to Will's, feeling once again like she's mediating between two parents. She does not bother to knock on Will's door – a sure sign to him that he's in for a nasty conversation.

"What the hell, Maggie?!" Will splutters in shock.

"What the hell, Will?!" Maggie mimics, raising her brows to his confusion. Will grits his teeth, knowing what's coming. "I'm going to say something absolutely insubordinate and hopefully insulting – but it's for your own good, I swear," intones Maggie, reminiscent of her first year as an AP.

"Well get on with it, then," huffs Will tiredly.

"You're a dick for saying that to her and you know it. You have to apologise – preferably as soon as I've left this office – and not just for that comment but for whatever else you did this morning to start this fight," rushes Maggie, allowing what she's been thinking to be aired.

"Firstly, you were right, that was insubordinate. You missed slightly on the insulting part of it, but I'll forgive you for that one," Will replies sarcastically, "secondly, _What I did this morning? _Why do you assume that I've done something?"

"Because your fights usually play out one of two ways: the first, you do something, she ignores it but jibes and snarks, then you say something insulting and we end up here," she pauses, "or, she does something, you blow up and say something stupid and Mac fights back whilst attempting to grovel." Maggie looks at him expectantly, daring him to contradict her.

"That's not how it happened this morning," growls Will, fully pissed off after this conversation. Seeing his reaction, Maggie remains silent and waits for Will to explain himself. Sighing, he says, "It was just a series of things that she did this morning – little things – that wound me up enough to blow. She probably doesn't even know what she did –"

"You haven't told her?" Maggie interrupts.

"Well, no. By the time we were ready to come in, I was fuming about a hundred different things but I thought that I'd be able to mellow out during the day. Then she made a sarcastic comment about me being a bear in the morning – angry and horny – and I blew it."

Maggie leans across Will's desk, looking him straight in the eye as her hand flashes out and grasps Will's cheek between her thumb and forefinger, pinching like he's a small child who needs a scolding. "That's a lame reason, and you know it," she whispers dangerously, releasing his now very red cheek and stepping away from the desk. "I'll see you at the rundown meeting, and I expect you to have apologised to Mac by then, understood?" threatens Maggie.

"Understood," he mouths.

Striding out of Will's office, Maggie almost runs into Sloan, who appears to be thoroughly preoccupied as she marches into Will's office, barely glancing upwards.

'_Oh great,_ thinks Will, _another scolding.'_

Slowing to a halt opposite Will's desk, Sloan finally looks up, glaring at Will as though she could penetrate his body with a single glance.

Thoroughly irritated, Will begins, "If you're here to scold me, don't bother, Maggie got here first."

Sloan hums slightly (that annoyed noise she makes before giving someone a tongue lashing), her eyes still boring into Will's. "D'you know what I don't get, _big brother?_" she adds the nickname patronisingly, adding insult to the injury she's about to inflict.

"What's that, Sloan?" says Will, eager to just get this over with and continue working (and thinking of ways he can apologise to Mac properly).

"I don't get why, after six months of marriage and another nine of planning, you decided to pull the dickiest of dick moves _now._"

At this, Will is stumped. He has no idea how to possibly respond because she's right – they're six months into marriage, over a year into their new relationship, yet somehow he managed to reserve this particular insult until now, despite the fact that he forgave her over a year and a half ago.

"I-"

"Don't bother," she interrupts, "What I actually came to ask is, _Why'd you start the fight, Will?"_

"Y'know, there's this assumption that whenever we have a fight, I'm the one who caused it, and I'll tell you, I don't appreciate it," snarks Will angrily.

"Cut the crap, McAvoy. What happened this morning?"

"_You weren't even there!"_

"Which is how you know that you have a _big _problem, since I'm aware of it and I wasn't even in the room at the time. So, I'll ask again, what happened this morning?" Deadpan as she repeats her question.

Sighing, Will mumbles, "It was a combination of things, okay? She…she forgot her birth control and we didn't have any other contraceptives-"

"A dangerous predicament," interrupts Sloan, "but, continue."

"So she kind of chucked me out of bed to shower and then she didn't eat the breakfast I'd made because it was too late and we had to get going, but she had enough time to nag me about how unhealthy mine was…"

"And…?"

"And then she made that comment about me being a bear in the morning, and after everything this morning I kind of just…blew it," he finishes quietly, aware of how stupid this sounds now but unwilling to admit it.

Sloan seems almost pensive for a moment before striking Will with her open palm as hard as she can, forcefully making contact with his cheek and leaving the imprint of her fingers laced across it. The sound resonates in the office, but Sloan doesn't seem to care about that or the stinging in her fingers as she hisses, "You pulled out that _insult _for such a _stupid _reason?! You literally decided to trample Mac's feelings for the mother of all of the dumbest reasons known to mankind? What the fuck, Will?!"

Ashamed, Will lowers his eyes and reaches up to his cheek with his palm, feeling heat rush beneath his fingertips. And a scratch. Holy shit, how's he supposed to cover that up in time for the show tonight? Fuck! Glaring at Sloan (who has just realised that the ring on her finger has caused a nasty cut to swell up on Will's cheek) Will growls at her to leave his office until he figures out a solution, to which she gladly complies. Smirking to herself as she leaves, Sloan knows that her message got through to Will.

"Will," begins Mac testily, "Why are you wearing enough make up to join the circus?"

Shuffling his papers between his hands, Will keeps his eyes lowered to the conference table, very aware that the entire staff is also waiting for his response. And rooting for Mac. Clearing his throat edgily, Will huffs, "I had an accident."

"An accident?" enquires Mac haughtily but with a touch of concern – just because she's mad at her husband it doesn't mean that she can't care when he appears to have hurt himself.

"Yeah, an accident," snaps Will. Guiltily he shifts his gaze upwards and looking to Mac he says, "Kenzie, can I have a word?" noting that she's not budging from her position at the head of the table, he prompts, "Outside?"

"Fine," she huffs, "in the meantime – I want you all to consider our options for tonight's A-Block and start preparing them."

Gliding out of the conference room, Mac turns on her heel the minute she reaches the door of her office, watching as Will drags his feet behind her to the unrepentant glares of the staff. She's going to have to have a word with them, too, she thinks, sighing. Pushing the door, Mac holds it open for Will.

"Well?" she says, irritated and waiting for this to be over so that she can return to the rundown meeting.

"Look, Mac, I'm sorry."

"That's all you have to say?"

Will groans, dragging his hand through his hair as he grits his teeth in frustration. "I'm sorry that I lashed out at you – and to top it off, I did it for such a stupid reason -"

"Which was?" she interrupts, genuinely curious and still stinging from the pain of his comment.

"A combination of things, Kenzie. Please don't make me explain -"

"No, Will. I deserve a full explanation after what happened this morning, and you know it."

Huffing, Will mumbles, "You wouldn't let me eat my breakfast in peace – after you told me that you didn't have enough time to eat the breakfast I prepared for you _and _after you practically hurled me out of our room so that you could shower -"

"You made me feel like shit because I didn't sleep with you this morning?" guessed Mackenzie (correctly).

Sighing in shame, Will nods without meeting her eyes. "Look, I never intended to hurt you – but after everything that happened at home, your comment about me being a bear in the morning it – it was small- but it set me off. I'm sorry – it shouldn't have and I shouldn't have let it."

The situation could have been the perfect comedic set up, except for the fact that Will had dredged up the worst thing he could've possibly thought of just to get back at her for some small, snide remark. Mac decided that, for now, hashing out that particular argument would not get them very far – especially since they still had a show to do tonight. Afterwards, they could discuss this and deal with everything that had gone so horribly wrong this morning. In the meantime, she decided to address what seemed to be the easiest problem.

"That still doesn't explain why you've got enough makeup on to join a troupe of mimes, Billy."

"That is…irrelevant. It's good enough, isn't it? Nothing shows…"

At his last comment, Mac began inspecting his face for what he could possibly be referring to when she saw it – the vaguest outline of raised skin. Reaching across her desk for a tissue, Mac dunked it in the glass of water by her keyboard before bringing her hand to his face quite forcefully and rubbing off the freshly-applied makeup. Beneath it, she saw a thin cut that had just begun to scab, the skin around it red and aggravated from her rubbing.

"How did this happen?" she seethed.

"I – it doesn't matter, Mac. All that matters is that I am well and truly sorry for what happened this morning and this – this can be covered up pretty well by the ladies in hair and makeup."

"It matters, Will, because it looks like you've also got a black eye forming under there. How the fuck am I supposed to allow you on air with a black eye? Or did you want to look like America's worst drag queen?"

Stunned by her response, Will replied quietly, "I could ask the hair and makeup team to apply a little less, next time…"

Stunned by his idiocy, Mac storms out of her own office, leaving Will standing alone, half a face of makeup applied and the other half red and bruised, a sure sign that he wouldn't be doing the show that night.

_**A/N: This is based on Lilacmermaid25's prompt on Tumblr: ** Mac manages to restrain herself from hitting Will (barely), but not everyone on their staff can contain themselves when they see him being mean to her. Now, in addition to needing to apologize to Mac, he needs to tell her he can't go on the air because of a black eye or bloody lip. Thanks for the inspiration, and I hope that I've done your prompt justice! ****_

_****If you liked this, please leave a review as I appreciate any and all feedback. And, as ever, thanks for reading! :)****_


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